In order to learn about the coverage
of Ibero-American journals by the JCR 2012-Web of Science and SJR
2012-Scopus indexes, both indexes were examined during the first
fortnight of September 2013, so as to find the number of Ibero-American
journals, their field of knowledge and the quartile they are at. The
number of Ibero-American journals in JCR amounts to 375, while in SJR it
is 1044, there being an important concentration in Spain and Brazil. In
order to observe the whole region in a horizontal perspective, we
propose its division into three sub-regions: Iberian Peninsula (Spain
and Portugal), Brazil and therest of Latin America. Iberian Peninsula
and Brazil concentrate more than 60% of the publications, whereas in
Latin America, the weight of Mexico, Colombia and Chile implies
invisibility for other countries. The heaviest weight leans toward the
natural sciences, with under-representation of social sciences and
humanities, whose local/national journals are the most suitable channels
to disseminate research results. Although some findings may be of
interest to the international community, most of them are specific
problems to their countries, where, the local media are the natural
diffusion channel to disseminate its work, without being necessarily
part of an worldwide scientific dialogue. At both indexes, the
positioning of Ibero-American journals is very low, with only five
Spanish journals in the first citation quartile in JCR, whilst in SJR
there are 32 journals in the first quartile, of which 29 are edited in
Brazil and Spain, and the rest are published in Mexico, Argentina and
Peru.

Species Index: Scopus